By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Carabaos were being slaughtered in Barangay 41, right across the city hall building here, for quite some time now.
The activity has remained unknown to most residents until someone recently reported it to the barangay officials.
Two kagawads, or village councilmen, on Thursday saw three people slaughtering a carabao that, allegedly, will later be sold at the Libertad Public Market.
Already dead, the carabao was said to be taken from Kabankalan City, according to the village chief, Leonilo Coligado.
It was allegedly owned by Junjun Paran, who owns a stall at the Libertad Public Market, said Coligado.
Coligado said a concerned citizen reported the alleged illegal slaughtering to village councilmen Richard Derla and Dante Penuela.
He said the two officials then went to the reported site, a secluded area in the village, and saw three people slaughtering a carabao.
Coligado said he earlier summoned Paran when he received reports on animal slaughtering in the village pointing to him as the culprit.
Paran, however, claimed that the animals were owned by his friends, the village chief said.
The slaughtering was being done in a structure near a well, where most residents source water, since most pumps and artesian wells there no longer function, Coligado said.
He sought assistance from Task Force Botagoy at about 1:30 p.m. on Thursday to get the carcass left by the culprits, but the team, led Rey Demisana, arrived at about 6:30 p.m.
By that time, Coligado had already ordered the carcass buried.
Demisana said they will remove the structure near the well.
Coligado urged the task force to file cases against the culprits./PN
